OTREC will be co-sponsoring the National Rural Intelligent Transportation Systems conference in Seaside, OR; August 23-27, 2009. The Call for Abstracts has been issued. To submit an abstract for presentation, go to: http://www.nritsconference.org, then click on Programs. Authors can also email abstracts to info@nritsconference.org. Emails must include all of the following: Abstract title, Lead author contact information (name, organization, address, phone & fax numbers, and email), Supporting author(s) name(s) and email addresses (if any), Topic area, and Abstract text (500 word maximum).
OTREC students and faculty were active at the Transportation Research Board’s 88th Annual Meeting, held in Washington, D.C., January 11-15, 2009. For details of specific sessions where OTREC partner university students and faculty participated you can follow these links: Oregon State University, University of Oregon, Portland State University. Congratulations to all participants!
The Region X Transportation Consortium hosted a reception at the 88th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board. The consortium is made up of the University Transportation Centers and Departments of Transportation in Alaska, Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The annual reception provides an opportunity for transportation professionals, educators and students to visit with colleagues from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. For the first time, the UTC Students of the Year (SOY) were introduced. Shown at left are AUTC Director Billy Connor, TransNow SOY Kari Watkins, NIATT Director of the Center for Clean Vehicle Technology Karen Den Braven, TransNow Director Nancy Nihan, NIATT SOY Nicholas Harker, OTREC Director Robert L. Bertini, and OTREC SOY Christo Brehm.
Zachary Horowitzís M.S. project report, ìFreight Railroad Capacity Alternatives in the Pacific Northwest: An Analysis of Class I Cooperation in the Columbia River Gorgeî won the Neville A. Parker Award for Outstanding Non-thesis Master’s Degree Paper in Policy and Planning from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC). He is the first student from the state of Oregon to win a CUTC award. His project, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Christopher Monsere, examined the impact of freight railroad traffic volumes in the Pacific Northwest, which are rapidly increasing toward capacity. Using OpenTrack, a railroad simulation software application developed at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich, he explored the potential benefits of a directional operating strategy in which the two railroad companies, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific, would combine their track and communication infrastructure. The results of the simulation model showed that the cooperative directional operating strategy has the potential to substantially increase capacity in the Columbia River corridor. Mr. Horowitz completed a M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Portland State University in 2007. While at PSU, he studied traffic capacity analysis on Oregon highway 217 and presented his original research at TRB, ITE, and TransNow conferences. He also took on a number of student leadership roles, including co-organizing the 2006 TransNow student conference and serving as...
Read moreThe Region X Consortium will soon release a request for proposal in response to one of the following research problem statements relating to: Gathering Low ADT Highway Storm Water Quality Data; or Climate Change Impact Assessment for Surface Transportation in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. OTREC is hoping to assemble a research team involving our university partners and potentially those in any of the Region X states. The total funding for the project is approximately $200,000. The RFP is expected to be released early 2009. Only universities from the four member UTCs in the Northwest are eligible to respond. If you have expertise in one of the following areas and would like to be involved or lead a research team, please contact me at hagedorn@pdx.edu.
OTREC is pleased to announce the posting of the 2009-2010 Request of Proposal (RFP). The total funding available under this RFP is approximately $2 million, and OTREC expects to fund as many high quality proposals as possible to support relevant work that relates to the theme and supports national transportation priorities, initiatives and needs. Due to the nature of our federal funding, project timeframes proposed should be for one year, and should generate measurable results in that time. All OTREC awards require a minimum of 100% match from non-federal sources. Please remember that it is critical that you obtain match commitment as part of putting together your proposal. To download the RFP, proposal and budget forms, please go to: https://trec.pdx.edu/OTRECUS/content/rfp2010.php. To submit your abstract, please go to: https://trec.pdx.edu/OTRECUS/rfp/2010_rfp_form1.php. Abstracts are due 5:00 PM February 20, 2009. OTREC will only accept full proposals for abstracts that are submitted by the deadline. Full proposals are due 5:00 pm on March 20, 2009.
OTREC is pleased to announce the fifth issue of OTREC News. Issues of OTREC News include reports on our research projects, profiles of students and faculty, introductions to our Executive Committee and Advisory Board, updates on education programs and events, reports of partner university transportation news, and examples of exciting collaboration within our Consortium. This issue includes several special features describing ongoing research projects, OTREC’s 2008-2009 Students of the Year and much more. We welcome your feedback on our publications! Please contact us if you would like a paper copy.
OTREC is pleased to present our 2007-2008 Annual Report. This publication is a summary of transportation research, education and technology transfer activities of OTREC for October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008. If you would like a paper copy, please contact us.
OTREC students and faculty were active participants in the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems, held in New York City, November 16-20, 2008. Lisa Diercksen, an MS student at PSU presented “A Second Look at the Effectiveness of the Myrtle Creek Dynamic Advanced Curve Warning System;” Jerzy Wieczorek, an MS student in Statistics at PSU presented “Using Archived ITS Data to Automatically Identify Freeway Bottlenecks in Portland, Oregon;” Rafael J. Fernandez-Moctezuma, a Ph.D. student in computer science at PSU presented “Developing an Imputation Strategy for an Archived Data User Service in Portland, Oregon;” Galen McGill of the Oregon Department of Transportation presented “Accuracy in Real-Time Estimation of Travel Time,” co-authored with PSU Prof. Kristin Tufte. Prof. Robert Bertini of PSU also presented: “Empirical Evaluation of Adaptive Ramp Metering Along Two Freeway Corridors in Portland, Oregon;” and “Toward Transport Payment Integration in Portland, Oregon.” Prof. David Porter and Prof. David Kim, of the OSU Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering also attended the Congress. The World Congress is sponsored by ITS AMerica, ERTICO-ITS Europe and ITS Japan.
Portland State University is committed to supporting research that is both regionally focused and globally relevant. This fall PSU has published a brochure featuring some of its exemplary research including OTREC sponsored projects by researchers Madeleine Pullman and Jennifer Dill. Dr. Pullman's research addresses the logistical issues raised by the rising demand for locally produced foods. She has studied supply chain success stories like that of Country Natural Beef, a cooperative family business committed to environmental responsibility, as well as other enterprises that have been slower to adopt such values, in order to better understand the impediments to change. Dr. Dill's research team has given GPS devices to bicycle commuters and collected rider surveys in order to collect data about the routes cyclists take, gender differences in riding and other information that can help cities better understand cyclistsí infrastructure needs. This regionally aimed research creates universal models of environmental responsibility and sustainability from which other cities can benefit.